Shatter
by Drizzle117
Summary: In an AU of Ninjago, eight passengers and the pilot survive a terrible plane crash and are stranded in the wilderness together, where they must learn to get along, help each other out, and survive. That is, if they don't tear each other apart first, shattering all hope they have of getting to their destination... (though it isn't in the genres, there is a slight romance sub-plot)
1. Prologue

**PROLOGUE**

Turbulence shook the plane, and the pilot, called Jay, grit his teeth. He couldn't fail this. He had to land his vehicle, if only to prove to his parents that he _could _fly a plane if he wanted to, and he _could _make something of his life. There was more to it than just playing video games and fawning over random girls in magazines, he knew it! So he had decided to become a junior pilot – Jay had always loved being in the sky – just to see how he liked it. Yeah, he could totally make his life work out!

But now it really didn't seem so likely.

A strong gust of wind tipped one of the wings, causing it to tilt dangerously. Rain pounded the top of the airplane, along with the occasional thump of hail. Shrieks were heard from the back, and Jay winced. Brushing a strand of brown hair out of his eyes, he leaned forward as if that would allow him to make the storm go away.

Thunder rumbled; Jay was unnerved by how close it sounded and seemed. He grit his teeth and continued to fly, ignoring the murmurs of his passengers in the back. _Just make a game out of it, Jay. It's okay…see, we're playing! Like a video game! I'm going to get the high score and beat this stupid sto—_

Another gust of wind rocketed past the plane; warning symbols began to flash across Jay's vision, blocking out the screen. _Tilting, tilting. Spinning out of control. Recommended action: remove self and all passengers from plane. Warning. Warning. __**WARNING!**_

_This isn't good! _Jay's eyes widened and he reached for the microphone next to him, about to announce that they needed to go into emergency exit mode, but the airplane hit another gust of wind and the plane tilted in the wrong direction, spinning the microphone off of the hook.

Jay cursed silently and leaned towards the microphone, feeling the plane rapidly gaining speed. A shriek, high-pitched and horrified, arose from the back seat, and he hoped that his passengers were alright.

He was so close to the microphone…just inches away…

_Come on, Jay! You can do it! Just get…the…high…score…_

There was a bone-sickening crash and the whole world went black.

**xxx**

"It's just some rain, Kai. I'm sure it'll be fine."

"Rain and hail, Nya."

"Hah! When has that ever stopped us from delivering our weapons? It's time to get serious. Nothing bad is going to happen. You're just overreacting…again."

The black-haired girl in a long red tunic snickered as her brother glared at her, eyes angry (like normal, but she wasn't about to say that). Kai turned to look out the window again and shuddered. "But seriously…is that _hai—?"_

He was interrupted by a blast of wind slamming into the side of the plane and causing it to tilt backwards; Kai cursed and clutched onto his seat, while Nya let out a screech and grabbed her brother's arm.

"What the _hell _is going on? Why can't this stupid pilot drive right?" he snapped, rubbing his head and glaring around.

Nya took in a deep, shuddering breath. "I'm sure he's just a little panicked, is all. You have to stop laying the blame on everyone, Kaaaaa_aaaaaiii!" _

The last word came out as a scream as they felt the plane rapidly falling towards the ground. Nya shrieked and clutched onto Kai, and he her. She closed her eyes, wondered if Kai was right for once, and felt the world disintegrate into darkness.

**xxx**

Zane took in a deep breath. He let it out. He took one in. He let it out. Just as he had been programmed to do, every second of every day, every day of every month, every month of every year. It was just the way he was supposed to be. After all, he was a work of genius, a wonder. That's what all the scientists had told him.

Now he was just going to see another scientist. The rocky wind and the pounding rain didn't bother him, even as the other passengers screamed. Zane supposed that was because he had his "frightened" switch turned off, and he had no intention of turning it back on. He simply watched, eyes calm, taking it all in.

The girl in front of him screamed and snatched up her brother's arm as the plane rocked back and forth, and Zane faintly heard the teenager behind him wince, while the other passengers cried out in panic.

Zane sat and looked out the window, noticing the ground was rapidly approaching. He blinked, and wondered if perhaps he should have kept his switch on.

Leaves brushed past the window, and the droid blinked as he watched the patterns zoom by at an impossible speed, processing each and every one and saving them into his database. It was just too beautiful to pass up.

While the others screamed and clutched each other for safety, Zane let his world fade into darkness without a sound.

**xxx**

Cole watched the rain slam into the window and tried not to get sick. That wasn't in his job application. They had told him he needed to fight the baddies and try not to get hurt. Easy enough – he was much stronger than his dancing father – but it didn't mean he always _enjoyed _the work. And now that he was being tossed around a plane like a stuffed animal, he was starting to reconsider his work.

_No, Cole. You've gotta be strong. Especially since everyone else around you are such wimps._

Indeed, the others around him were either screaming or hugging each other in silent attempts to block out the vision of the plane tilting in the wind. A fresh wave of panic bubbled up in Cole's stomach; he pushed a strand of black hair out of his eyes and grimaced. Maybe he _would _be sick.

A tilt straight downward caused everyone to fall forward in their seats; even Cole let out a panicked yelp and tried to straighten himself. _Why isn't the pilot doing anything?_

Another thunk from a ball of hail; this time Cole actually let out a frightened yell as he felt the plane going faster and faster, rapidly spinning out of control towards the ground. _Not good, not good, not good! _

The blackness had reached him before he even had time to think any last words.

**xxx**

"Mom, you can let go of me! I'm not a little kid anymore, and I'm not scared of the thunderstorm! *gulp* Not at all!"

"I know, I know…but, oh, little Lloyd! I just can't help feeling protective of you!"

"Mrmph…"

The blonde teenager grumbled in irritation as his mother, a grey-haired woman with large glasses, hugged him tightly to her chest. He could smell the scent of rocks and dirt coming off of her clothing, most likely from her full-time job as an archeologist. That was why they were on this crazy plane in the first place: Misako's job.

Lloyd pushed off of his mother's chest and sighed, looking out the window. "Shouldn't the pilot be fixing things by now?" he asked cautiously.

"I'm sure he's trying," grumbled another voice; from the seat behind them, Lloyd's father, Lord Garmadon, sat, occasionally looking up and muttering things under his breath that no one but he could hear. Misako narrowed her eyes, but nodded.

"I'm sure that's all that's going on," she agreed dutifully.

Lloyd wasn't convinced. It had been an awful long time since his parents had agreed on something fully, and he wasn't even sure that they _could_.

A sudden blast of wind tipped the airplane sideways; Misako shrieked and grabbed on to Lloyd while Garmadon simply rolled his eyes. Lloyd felt chills run throughout his body. _Just a tremor,_ he told himself inwardly. _It's just a tremor…_

Another tilt. Another scream.

And the world went black.

**xxx**

The old man sat alone in the back of the plane, watching. Waiting. Knowing. Seeing.

He noted the man with three small children in front of him, but paid them no attention. Next to them sat a clearly overworked woman and her frazzled husband. The man's eyes skipped over them as well. But one young man caught his eye; a scruffily, black-haired teenager looking like he was trying very hard not to throw up. He looked strong, the old man noticed, but he looked loyal. He would not let a team down.

The man smiled and nodded as he looked at his brother, a few lanes up. Lord Garmadon was resting, for now. He would awake later. This the man was sure of. Garmadon's wife and son were up ahead; the man had already tested them. They were ready.

The pilot – Jay, was that the name? – Wu also had tested. He too showed great potential. And the boy and his sister, along with the droid that sat stiffly behind them…yes. They were all ready.

Wu bowed his head as he felt the plane moving faster and faster downwards. He knew what was about to happen. He understood quite well.

After all, it was his own doing.

The world **shattered** around him, disintegrating into darkness.


	2. Chapter 1

**CHAPTER ONE**

Jay was the first to awake.

There was something heavy crushing his back left leg, and his side hurt like crazy, but other than that he appeared to be perfectly fine. Blinking through the rubbish and debris, he struggled to see who else was around him. What did he remember? What had just happened?

Suddenly it all came back to him.

_The plane…oh gosh, the plane._

Had it crashed?

Well, that was a silly question. Of course it had crashed. The question was: where? And…was he the only survivor, sheltered by the luck of the pilot's seat?

A shriek came from the top of the ridge, and Jay exhaled, struggling to pull his leg from under the debris of the plane. So he wasn't alone. _Phew. _

"Hello?" he called out, hearing his voice echo back at him. Did that mean they were in some sort of cavern? Why were there trees growing around them, then? "Is anyone else there?"

"Someone else is awake?" cried a shrill, clearly female voice. "Please, I need your help! I can't get my brother to wake up!"

Breathing hard, Jay tugged the remainder of his leg from the debris and winced as he tried to put weight on it. It stung like fire and wasn't going to be a whole lot of fun to walk on, but he was alive…he was _alive. _Like some of his passengers might not be.

"Can you yell again?" he called to the girl that had screamed earlier.

The voice came back almost instantly – it actually was an awfully pretty voice, but Jay had to push that aside in his mind as he limped towards the echoing sound. The entire plane had been smashed from a hard landing, but the nose had taken the most brutal hit. Jay figured it was a wonder he was still alive, and shuddered at the thought of how close he had to had come to death.

Finally the girl came into view, leaning over a motionless figure that had to have been her brother.

Jay stopped and stared.

She was _gorgeous_ – a long red tunic contrasted with her quite pale skin perfectly, while her short, raven-black hair glimmered in the sunlight. She turned when she heard him coming, and the relief in her eyes made his breathing quicken rapidly.

"Thank goodness," she gasped. "Please, I need your help! He's not getting up!"

Jay hardly said anything; he simply nodded and leaned over the girl's brother, a tall teenager who honestly couldn't have been much older than himself, with frizzy brown hair that spiked up in all directions and an angry, furrowed face, even in sleep. The pilot felt the other's pulse; he was breathing, but roughly. "He's alive," he said to the girl's sister, trying not to make direct eye contact. "Probably just got hit on the head or something. He'll wake up in due time."

"So relieving," the girl breathed. "I don't know what I'd do without him." She blinked and looked at Jay curiously. "Sorry! I'm so rude, not introducing myself. I'm Nya, and this is my brother Kai."

_Nya. _A gorgeous name, Jay had to admit. "I-I'm Jay," he mumbled, glancing down at the ground.

Nya smiled but said nothing. In such a tragic event – caused by him? Was it caused by him? – there was really nothing to say or do, and he most certainly couldn't flirt if her brother was knocked out on the ground!

She broke the silence after a while. "I like your suit."

Jay blinked and looked down. He had forgotten he was wearing his blue pilot's suit today – his absolute favorite one, as blue had always been his favorite color. "Thanks! Heh, yeah…thanks."

"Blue is my favorite color," Nya giggled.

Jay felt his heart soar – _YES! SCORE! – _and was about to continue talking when they heard a moan from between them.

Kai was waking up.

**xxx**

Kai felt his eyelids flutter open; blinking, he realized that the rain had stopped, and he was lying on something lumpy, and hard, and his back hurt like hell. Something was on top of one of his arms, and he could see Nya in front of him. But she wasn't looking at him.

She was looking at some random boy.

"Hey!" Kai yelped, causing both of them to flinch. "Nya, what're you doing?"

"Waiting for you to get up." She crossed her arms and watched as he struggled and failed to lift the debris off of his arms. "You should _not _scare me like that again."

"Well, it's the pilot's fault the plane crashed," Kai grumbled, pushing with all of his might at the huge pieces of airplane seat and winced as one of his palms dug into a piece of glass, presumably from the shattered windows. The boy Nya had been talking to – a kid with a devilish smile on his face and slightly ruffled brown hair – openly flinched. Kai grunted as he shoved the final bit of leather seat off of his arm. "Stupid…pilot!"

Sitting up, he glared and poked the other boy in the chest. "And who do you think _you _are?"

Obviously taken aback, he stammered, "Um…I'm Jay?" The words were spoken almost like a question. Even his voice sounded lighthearted, like he could make a joke out of anything.

Right away, Kai decided that he hated this kid.

"So where are we?" Nya wondered, helping her brother struggle to his feet and looking around. They appeared to be in some sort of huge canyon, with bushes and trees spurting out of the sandy ground, occupied by very small amounts of grass and the wreck of one huge plane.

Jay shrugged. "I have no idea, really. Guess I could check the GPS on my phone, but I'd be astonished if the phone didn't break during the crash."

Kai groaned. "Well, this is just great. We're stuck in the middle of nowhere with a ruined plane, probably a bunch of dead people, and some trees. How are we supposed to survive now?"

Nya sighed and whispered to Jay, "He's very pessimistic."

Kai felt his temper flaring up. He _hated _it when Nya had to speak for him – and for some stranger that seemed as unpredictable as a wild bear, of _course. _"She doesn't need to speak for me," he snapped, pushing one finger into Jay's chest. "And don't _you _forget it," he mouthed to Nya, who simply rolled her eyes in response.

Silence passed. Nya looked at Kai, as if knowing he would know what to do, while Kai continued to glare at Jay, watching his every move, and Jay snuck little glances at Nya out of the corner of his eye. The silence went on for much too long, and clearly Nya couldn't take it anymore.

"Why don't we go check to see if anyone else is…you know…alive?" she asked nervously. Jay nodded instantly, while Kai grunted a short yes, still keeping one eye trained on Jay. He didn't trust the kid, and he didn't like the look of him either.

And where was that awful pilot that had crashed the plane anyways?

They were all startled out of their skin by a voice remarking behind them, flat and emotionless, "So I am not the only one that is alive, then? That is a pleasure to hear."

**xxx**

Zane said the words with ease, not expecting the three in front of them to leap up and turn around like he was going to bite them. But that was what they did, and he decided to stand up and introduce himself – after all, that was what was proper, and that was what he had been taught.

"My name is Zane," he declared. "Droid for others, sent for study, able to do and conceive many things. Who, may I ask, are you?"

The spiky-haired kid continued to stare at him in shock, but the boy in the blue suit wasted no time. He walked over and extended one hand. "Hey! I'm Jay, nice to meet you."

Zane took the hand and shook it, feeling warmth in its grasp. His hands never held warmth like that. "A pleasure." He bowed his head, just as he had been programmed to do, and waited for the others to introduce themselves.

The girl stepped forward next, eyes shining. "My name is Nya," she announced, holding out her hand. Once again, Zane shook it, feeling the same warmth radiate through his system.

But when the final boy shook his hand and grunted, "Kai," Zane gasped. A flash of fire whipped through his vision. Kai's hand seemed to rage like fire itself, hot and flaming to the touch. The other two watched as the droid staggered backwards, eyes wide.

"What's wrong?" Kai wondered a little nervously, gruffness forgotten for the moment.

"I…I…" Zane shook his head and looked up, forcing a smile onto his face. "Nothing is wrong. Perhaps my system is suffering from a glitch from the plane crash. I'll have to look at it. Please excuse me."

Jay and Nya nodded, while Kai blinked at him as Zane pulled open his control panel and peered at all of the cogs and bolts, trying to see if one – perhaps his temperature signal – was out of place. But no, it all appeared to be correct. Zane closed the panel, thinking. _Strange…_

"So are we the only ones that have lived?" he asked, looking back at the others.

"We haven't had time to check yet," Nya muttered sheepishly. "We probably should now."

A sudden call from Jay made them all look up. "Hey! Hey! Guys! I've found someone! And he's still breathing!"

**xxx**

Cole felt like there were tons of rocks on his chest. Lots and lots of rocks. But he was strong, so he could push them off, right?

Struggling to get up, the black haired teen pushed and pushed, but it was like his arms had made a magical transformation into limp spaghetti noodles. He wrinkled his nose in frustration and pushed even harder, wincing as a jolt of pain shot through his left arm. Something was wrong. Where was he?

All of a sudden it all came rushing back. The plane, the storm, the tilt, the rain, the hail…

…the crash…

Cole felt bile choke up in his chest, but couldn't bring himself to release it. Was he the only one here? Well, the only one here that was still…_alive?_

Feeling sick at the thought, Cole leaned over and closed his eyes.

When he next opened them, there was a kid about a year younger than him leaning over his face and staring.

Cole yelped and tried to jump up, but then remembered the debris, and his weak arm. "Who are you?" he grumbled, irritated.

The words must have been really soft, because the kid flat out ignored him and instead yelled, "Hey! Hey! Guys! I found someone! And he's still breathing!"

_There were more survivors? _Cole looked up at the faces rapidly surrounding him – three others, besides the first kid. One was a spiky haired boy, standing close to a black haired girl, and a little farther away was a white haired teenager.

"So I'm not the only one who lived, then?" he asked croakily, wincing as he tried again to lift the boulders off of his chest. The others noticed this and moved to help him, taking the rubbish by twos and moving it off, allowing Cole to breath steadily again.

"Nope! Looks like we're all lucky. I'm Jay, by the way," the first boy said, picking up one of the smaller rocks and pathetically tossing it to one side.

"I'm Kai," the spiky haired boy announced, "and this is my sister, Nya." Nya gave a little wave as her name was announced.

"And I am Zane, droid for others, sent for study, able to—"

"We heard all that earlier," Kai grumbled. "This is Zane. And who are you?"

Cole lifted himself up, feeling another jolt of pain rush throughout his entire body. "…Cole. Cole's the name. Cop and international strongman." The words seemed to bring a certain kind of energy back into him. He was Cole…yeah, he could do a good job – a _great _job at figuring out this whole stupid situation!

But he was startled out of his wits by another voice behind him. "Please! Somebody help! My mom isn't getting up!"

**xxx**

Lloyd was panicking, Garmadon was sitting there, claiming he was trying to help (but he was actually doing nothing but staring), and Misako was knocked out on the ground. Lloyd could see dead people all around him, and it scared him, to be honest. The woman with her three children? All dead, with limbs displayed in awkward angles and blood still gushing out of their wounds. It honestly made him sick.

Were the voices he had heard really just figments of his own mind? That didn't seem right. They couldn't be. They sounded real enough. He decided to call again, just to be sure. "Please! _Anybody!"_

A voice came back at him this time, female and calming. "Don't worry! We'll come right over!"

A few seconds later the speaker appeared: a girl older than him, perhaps sixteen, with shoulder-length black hair and a long red tunic that was torn from running throughout the rubble. Lloyd waved, coughing as dust flew throughout the air. The storm may have passed them by, but it was windy.

Following the girl came a few others; a boy in a blue suit who looked to be about seventeen hopped on one leg, supported by another boy, maybe eighteen, with white-yellow hair and a stiff sort of walk. A spiky-haired kid and a black haired boy followed them.

Lloyd pointed at Misako, feeling tears sting his eyes. "Please help me," he begged, feeling his lip quivering with the effort of choking back crying. "Will she be alright?"

The girl leaned down and placed two fingers on Misako's vein on her wrist. "…she has a pulse, she'll be alright. Just get her out of the debris and lay her down – she'll wake up at some point."

"Thank goodness," Lloyd murmured, beginning to move some of the debris off of his mother. Her glasses had broken; snapped right in two. They had been her favorite glasses and he knew that she would sorely miss them.

Together the group began to life the debris off of Misako – even Garmadon, which quite surprised Lloyd, though he decided not to say anything about it. Everyone managed to pitch in, though several people looked disturbed by the bodies littered around them. The kid in the blue suit looked like he wanted to throw up, while the one with black hair turned around, blocking his eyes. The white-haired android went around to check all of their pulses.

"I have come up with zero results," he announced as he walked back up to the rest.

"Nice try, Zane," the black haired boy shrugged it off, but he was put down. Lloyd could tell by the stoop of his shoulders and the sadness in his gaze. He had always been good at reading emotions like that.

That was when the voice came from behind them.

"Good…very, very good."

**xxx**

Wu stood up from the debris, seemingly not a scratch on him. Pulling his long wooden staff from the debris next to him, he sat up. Lloyd smiled at him, nodding at his uncle, but Wu ignored this and continued onwards.

"You are all ready for the big challenges, then?" he asked the spiky haired boy, Kai. Kai glared at him.

"Why do we have to take orders from you, old man? And what big challenges?"

"That's my uncle you're talking to!" Lloyd yelped angrily. "He's no old man…he's quite wise."

Kai rolled his eyes as the android, Zane, stepped forward and nodded. "A pleasure to meet you."

Nya did the same, smiling, probably just relieved to find there was another survivor, even though Wu knew he was the last one. These eight and himself were the only ones to have survived the plane crash out of over a hundred people. It was honestly a very horrible thing.

But it was perfect. It worked, and that was all that was necessary. Wu took a few deep breaths in and smiled. "Come. We have much to discuss." Slowly he began to walk away from the wreckage of the plane.

Jay leapt up in shock and, limping through the pain in his leg but moving quickly nonetheless, caught up to Wu fast. "Hey! Hold on a minute here – what about all of these people?" His eyes stung. "What about the plane?"

Wu turned; he recognized the boy as the pilot but decided not to say anything, in case the others got upset with Jay. He couldn't have that. They _needed _to get along. "We'll have to leave them, is all."

"But where are we going?" Nya asked, catching up; with a grunt, Kai followed, careful to step in-between his sister and Jay.

Wu stroked his long white beard and smiled. "To the plane's original destination, of course."

"What?" Cole piped up for the first time. "How are we supposed to get there? No change of clothes…no food…" His eyes widened, and he looked around him, as if wondering who would have to die first.

Wu sighed. Though he knew they were the correct ones, they had to be tempered with to be made ready. "We will find a way, through the spirit and emotion of you all." Slowly he tapped each of them on the head, including the unconscious Misako and the unwilling Garmadon, who had finally gotten up and was standing with the others. "Together we must live, together we must soar, until we find what we are looking for."

"Live together?" Jay asked excitedly.

"Live together," Wu replied.

"Live together," Kai grumbled, shooting an irritated glance at Jay, who was beaming. Wu watched this all with amusement, knowing this would indeed be a journey to behold. He had chosen well.

"It is time to get a move on," the old man said, surprising everyone from their little mini stupors – the only one who didn't look instinctively at Wu was Kai, who seemed a little reluctant about the whole thing. The others mainly just wanted to stay alive. "We must get there soon. Thousands of miles await us, you know."

"Thousands?" Cole winced. "How will those of us with injuries fare?"

Sensei Wu smiled, and repeated the mysterious sentence he had spoken earlier. "We will find a way."

And so the adventure of a lifetime began – the adventure that was soon to **shatter **into a million pieces, each one being something that went wrong**...**

_Author's Note:_

_Thanks for the positive reviews on the prologue! It's my first time writing Ninjago, EVER, and so I was really pleased! A lot of you seemed shocked by Sensei's point of view, and all I can say is that he is a man of mystery, and you'll discover it may have been part of his plan, but certainly not all of it. :3 _

_Read and review, please! :D_

_~Driz_


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

"_Soooo…_why were you all on the plane?"

Jay wasn't sure how to keep the conversations going. He was a light-hearted person who liked to crack a few jokes and keep a happy relationship between everyone. However, whenever he tried to start a conversation, everyone would conveniently change the subject. It was really starting to get on his nerves. Hopefully this conversation would stick.

Kai, as usual, was grumpy about it. "I could ask you the same question."

_If they know I was the pilot, they'll blame me for everything that happened! _Jay thought in a panic. "I was...I am…a travelling inventor," he burst out, thinking of the first thing that came to mind.

Nya blinked at him curiously. "What kinds of things do you like to invent?" she asked with a small smile.

A bead of sweat trickled down Jay's neck. Those eyes…that smile…"Wings?" he tried hopefully.

"Wings? For humans?" _She sounds genuinely interested! Time to hook it! _

"Yeah!" Jay was feeling more comfortable with this subject now; in fact, he felt so comfortable he didn't watch where he was going and slammed into a tree. There were lots of them out and about, though they weren't very large and were easy to avoid.

Cole burst out laughing, as did Kai and Lloyd, who was helping Garmadon carry Misako. Zane looked around at them all, a confused expression on his face, while Wu cracked a grin. Jay smiled, though it was weak. "Ha, ha, guys. Ha."

After finishing his burst of chuckles, Cole offered a hand to the fallen pilot and helped him up, staggering slightly as he used his injured arm. "To answer your question, I'm a cop. Apparently there's a real baddie running around and I was heading to his destination spot."

"I was headed to be studied by yet another scientist," Zane announced.

"My mom – she's an archeologist – was headed to a new site, and my dad and I went with her because it was so far away," Lloyd said, smiling and still trying to hold back laughter.

Jay smiled. _Now I've made some real conversation! _"Is that so?" He turned to Nya, blushing slightly as he looked away. "And may I ask why you and your brother are here?"

"You may ask me," Kai grunted.

Jay rolled his eyes. "Sure, sure. Mr. Grumpypants. So, why?"

"My name isn't Mr. Grumpypants," Kai protested, flicking his hair backwards so that it didn't dangle in his vision tantalizingly. "And we sell weapons. Swords, staffs, stuff like that. It's all from our father's shop – but after he passed on, we took over the family business."

Nya giggled – Jay practically melted at the sound but tried to keep himself together – and whispered quite loudly, "Kai isn't a very good blacksmith!"

Her brother glared at her. "I am a _perfectly good _blacksmith, thank you very much."

"My senses are telling me that that is a lie," piped up Zane from the back of the crowd; Jay had to stifle back his laughter as Kai whipped around to glare at the droid, presumably telling him through eye language to shut up. The laughter doubled when the red-garbed teen was smacked in the face by a branch, and he couldn't contain it anymore. Jay was laughing, and so was Cole, and Lloyd, and even Nya (ah, her laughter sounded like the tinkling of little crystalline bells!), but Kai most certainly was not.

"S-Sorry, man," Cole chuckled, leaning over on one knee. "You were just all like, 'I'm gonna walk along now and suddenly BAM!' Priceless!"

Kai grumbled something under his breath and began to push himself up, sitting back against the tree. "Yeah, yeah. It's 'everyone laugh at Kai' day, isn't it?"

Nya sighed and linked her arm with her brothers, helping to haul him up. "The whole world isn't against you, Kai. You have to loosen up." As she said this, however, she glared at the others as if it was somehow their fault. Jay felt his heart clench tight again and sighed. _Aw, well…not my fault she's got the worst weirdo in the world for a brother._

As Kai gave him another angry glare, a shudder passed throughout Jay, and he looked at the ground to avoid eye contact. _As long as I stay away from him, everything should go fine…_

**xxx**

The _guts _of that stupid Jay person! Woo his sister, gain pity from all when he slammed into a tree, and then burst out laughing when the _exact same thing _happened to Kai? Life just wasn't fair, and no matter what Nya said, he wasn't going to trust these weirdos.

The old man with the beard was the strangest of them all, hands down. All this "We will find a way, oh, I'm so wise, woo hoo" stuff was driving him insane. Having to put up with all of these crazies was going to be a nightmare. An honest-to-goodness nightmare.

They continued to walk in silence after Nya's last words, though the blond kid and the old man were talking in whispers among themselves. Kai wondered what they were saying. He decided to strain his ears and try to figure it out.

Upon doing so, the blacksmith was delighted to discover he could actually hear their conversation.

"Uncle, are you sure this is a good idea? Some of these people – the boys, mainly – seem to be against each other," Lloyd murmured nervously.

"You must relax," the man replied calmly. "I know that now it may seem like they have nothing in common and shall not be friends, but I know that one day they will work together as brothers."

Kai bristled. _Brothers? With those losers? No thanks. The nerve of that guy! _It took him a few seconds to remember: this was an _old man_. He had no idea what he was talking about.

So why did he sound so sincere?

Suddenly a yelp came up from the boy; Kai turned to see that the woman with grey hair was struggling to open her eyes and blinking in the sunlight. "Mom!" Lloyd smiled, though it was bittersweet. "I'm so glad you're awake."

Kai watched warily as Misako struggled to sit up; Garmadon and Lloyd placed her down on the ground so that she could get her bearings. "My oh my…" Glancing around wildly, she gasped as she saw her husband and son. "The plane crash!" Pulling Lloyd tight to her, she whispered something in his ear that Kai was unable to hear.

The others had stopped walking now, so Kai supposed he had to too. With a grunt, he pulled to a stop and watched as the woman staggered to her feet. With a yelp, she started to fall forwards but was caught by Lloyd.

"Looks like I'm not yet sturdy on my feet!" she grinned, though Kai could tell it was short-lived. Something was clearly wrong. Glancing around at the eight surrounding her, she gasped, "Are we the only survivors?"

Wu spoke, his head bowed. "Yes. We are very fortunate."

Kai watched in interest as Misako's face turned from horrified to upset to a burning rage. Whipping around and pulling out of her son's grasp, she made as if to talk to Wu, but seemed to decide against it. A deep breath went in, and was released. "It is good to know that you are okay."

The words were forced – even Kai could tell that, with his 'lack of emotional depth,' according to Nya. Briefly he wondered what was wrong, but was soon distracted seeing Nya talking with all of the others. She couldn't protect herself! He had to be there to watch over.

"…and so that was how I _single-handedly _caught the most infamous criminal in the entire city," Cole boasted as the others looked on in awe.

Jay snorted. "Yeah, somehow I'm pretty sure that's a sort of lie. Zane? Can you back me up?"

"It is 75% truth," the android explained, looking around at the others as he spoke. _So polite! _Kai decided he didn't like this one either. Nuts and bolts had never given him a good feeling. "Processing this through my database, this would mean that yes, Cole caught the criminal, but he was assisted by three other men."

A blush rose to Cole's cheeks. "Well, I did say he was tough…it was hard not to use a _little _backup."

_These _were the morons he had to spend weeks, possibly _months _with? Kai groaned inwardly as he went up to join the conversation.

These were going to be some really long weeks.

**xxx**

Zane was usually reluctant to allow emotion into his hard-drive – after all, he had spent most of his life in the various science showings, and there he was simply required to stand very still and let others look over him. Sometimes they tapped his switches, and he almost got a chance to properly speak, instead of the dull robotic voice providing his introduction, but the off switch was hit too quickly for him to have a chance.

Occasionally a person would as the science manager if Zane actually had a personality, such as other human beings. The manager would reply that no, he would not have a true personality if he was to be performing work.

But if he had no personality, and he was working with the others now, how was he actively joining in the conversation, and even causing a few of the others to laugh?

Zane pondered this as they continued to walk on, sending his scanning sensors over the area to look for danger. No danger, and no ideas. He was just an android, correct? He wasn't even supposed to be alive right now. His creator must have made him extra specially – however, that same creator had given him to a scientist. He would never know how he was made.

"…and so Dad said, 'Wings?' and I was all like, 'Wings are the _thing!_'"

Of course. He must contribute to the conversation. Zane smiled and let out a "Ha, ha," wondering if that was a convincing enough laugh. Had he laughed at the correct time? Why was everyone staring at him like that?"

Jay blinked at him. "Was that funny?"

If he wasn't a robot, Zane would have blushed. "I…I am sorry. Apparently I did not know when to jump into your conversation." It sounded so stiff and emotionless from what the others had been saying he could have winced, but it wasn't like he knew how to give proper feelings. He had never even tried.

To his surprise, Jay stopped walking and waited until the android caught up. Looping one arm around Zane's shoulder, he muttered, "Zane, I am going to teach you about humor. You cannot live life without it!"

"Yes, you can," came the voice of Kai, far up ahead. Jay stuck his tongue out before returning back to the android.

"So, are you ready to learn?"

Zane nodded simply, unsure of how to show excitement, so he simply smiled and awaited command, like he had always been told to do as Jay studied him, pacing around and stroking his chin. "Interesting…very interesting. I can work with this."

Zane was left to hope that he wouldn't end up with his parts all over the sidewalk; with a nervous sort of smile, he announced, "Let us do this, then."

Jay smirked. "Trust me. I will."

**xxx**

Cole was pretty sure he might have a chance at getting along with the others in the group, which seemed like a miracle. Well, except for Kai. _Nobody _seemed able to get along with Kai. Not even his owns sister could penetrate the large force-field surrounding the blacksmith! But the others weren't really that bad.

Zane was a little stiff, but with a little tinkering, Cole figured he could be as much a part of the party as any of them were, and that would be interesting. What kind of stuff could an android perform, anyways? So many opportunities to learn about the world of robotics! Not that he was into that kind of stuff, but…

Jay was funny, and he seemed to know it. A little outgoing, a little daring, and a lot full of humor. Cole liked him. He could be a nice addition to anyone's team if he could be a little bit more serious.

Lloyd was pretty cool, a little childish for his age, but not that bad. Maybe a bit rambunctious, but truly a pretty nice kid. Cole knew that he liked him, anyways.

Nya seemed strong and tough for a girl, like someone that could take care of herself if she was in any kind of trouble. He guessed she was pretty in some ways, too, but Cole didn't often look for that quality in girls. What he cared about was that the boys wouldn't have to take care of her in the wilderness. That was a relief, honestly.

Misako and Garmadon both seemed a little wary, of each other and anyone that wasn't Lloyd. Cole wasn't sure if he could trust either of them yet; he knew too little of their personalities to make a full assumption.

And the old man – Wu. He was the one that seemed to be sending them on this whole quest, and Cole was suspicious. Life as a cop had taught him that the least likely to commit the crime could easily be the one most capable of taking people down. With his long white beard and small black eyes, Wu seemed like the wise man out of fairy tales, and right then Cole didn't trust him one bit.

Misako and Wu were whispering as Kai and Nya seemed to argue. Lloyd was talking with his father and Jay was tinkering with Zane's systems. Cole grit his teeth and looked back. If he was going to figure out what was up with this Wu guy, he had to sacrifice a bit of trust. Casually dropping back, he strained his ears to listen to what the man and woman were whispering.

"…what have you done?" Misako hissed, eyes flashing angrily.

"I did not know the plane would crash," Wu replied solemnly. "You, of all people, would know I had no intention of destroying that many innocent lives."

_What was the old guy rambling on about? _Cole's curiosity perked; he listened harder, but was cut off by a screech from Lloyd. "Water!"

Cole hadn't even realized how parched he had been until that moment; eyes glowing, he turned to see a small pool of water resting among a few trees. With a wild cheer, he took off towards it, followed by Jay, Lloyd, and Nya. Zane was unable to move, still paralyzed by Jay's tinkering, and Kai grumbled.

As Cole was the first to reach the pool, he was the first to see it. Eyes widening, he held out one hand behind him, cautioning the others to stop, which they did, a little bit reluctantly.

"What is it?" Jay complained, trying to block the view.

Out of the corner of his mouth, Cole hissed, "Stay very, very stil—"

"That's it! I want some water," Kai yelled, barging past Cole and heading straight for the pond, causing Cole to let out a squeak of horror.

Heading straight towards Kai with a hungry look in its eyes was a full grown mountain lion.

**xxx**

Misako had often told Lloyd that he moved by gut and not by mind. He never thought about what he did and would often plunge headfirst into battle without giving anything a second thought. At first he had been confused by what this meant, but now he knew.

Otherwise he wouldn't have been charging straight towards the mountain lion screaming a battle cry.

"_Lloyd!" _Misako shrieked, breaking off of Wu and charging towards her son.

But he didn't hear her. Leaping in front of the beast, he yelled at it, "Leave him _alone!"_

"Kid!" Kai grunted from behind him, placing a hand on Lloyd's shoulder and trying to force him out of the way. "I can handle this! I don't need you to be some sort of human shield!"

But Lloyd was in the zone, and he was determined, and once he was determinedly in the zone, no one could snap him out, another thing that Misako had told him could work for either the better or the worse. "Go away!" he yelled again at the animal.

The lion seemed hardly affected by the sudden appearance of two new human beings. Letting out another tremendous growl, it continued to advance forward. A _shing_ noise echoed behind him, and Lloyd turned slightly to see Kai had drawn a sword out of his bag. The words of Kai suddenly appeared in his head. "_We sell weapons. Swords, staffs, stuff like that._"

"Come and face me, coward!" Kai yelled at the mountain lion, which let out a mighty roar and sprang, straight at Lloyd's chest.

The other boys _finally _reacted and also dove at the enemy; however, not all of them had a weapon to speak of. Cole pulled some nun-chucks out of one of his bags, presumably from his life as a cop, but it seemed awkward in his hand, like he wasn't quite skilled at using it. "Aargh, I need something else," he moaned. "Who wants the nun-chucks? Come on, anyone?"

Jay shrugged and held out his hand, taking the weapon and diving at the lion. He made the first strike, hitting it upside the head, but it was a short-lived victory, as the creature turned and let loose a horrible roar, using the back of one paw to slam Jay away. The inventor hit a tree and groaned, putting one hand to his head. When he took it off, Lloyd was startled to see the dark maroon of blood.

The mountain lion meant business.

Kai darted behind it and made a stab with his sword; the lion moaned in pain as the blade connected with its flesh and whipped around, attempting to sink teeth into the blacksmith's arm. Lloyd saw the wide open, unprotected skin. He saw Jay's nun-chucks, abandoned on the ground. Reaching forward, he took them in his palm, feeling the cold of the metal on his skin, before he struck.

The lion whipped around, looking back and forth, obviously trying to figure out who to go after first; Lloyd took the chance to whack it as Kai stabbed. Nya had a dagger in one arm now, and she was running, and soon there was even more golden-tan fur and blood littering the ground and the air was filled with shrieks and suddenly there was a paw swinging towards Lloyd. He saw it in slow motion, but there was no way to prevent it.

Suddenly he was flying through the air, chest heaving, feeling the sensation of claws rake his chest, and it was not a good one. Skidding across the ground, Lloyd landed in a dusty, bloody heap. The world was slowly fading out of focus…

…until it was lit up by a brilliant light, emanating from his uncle's staff.

Wu was chanting something under his breath, over and over again, the throbbing, piercing light growing larger and brighter until all of a sudden it exploded in a golden burst of stars.

The world went black.

When Lloyd next opened his eyes, there was the body of a mountain lion in front of them. Jay had a bandage surrounding his forehead, and he was propped up against a tree next to him. Looking down, he saw tight leather bandages wrapped around his chest.

As he looked around some more, he noticed almost everyone, minus Zane, Garmadon, Wu and Misako had an injury of some sort. Wu was panting, and for once, he looked his age.

"What was that?" Jay asked to the old man, voice bordering on something imitating awe.

"Something I should not have used," Wu replied, but before he could continue his sentence, he was cut off by Kai, who had a small injury to the shoulder, but nothing major. The boy got to his feet, eyes afire.

"Of course you shouldn't have used it! I could have defeated the freaking thing myself! I didn't need your help, old man! I didn't need that freaky voodoo magic, or whatever you used! I don't need any of you!"

Before anyone could stop him, Kai whipped around and, slinging his bag over his shoulder, stalked off into the undergrowth, not so much as lifting a hand to say goodbye.

**xxx**

Wu bowed his head. It shouldn't have started, but it had. It had begun.

Nya yelped and started to get up, with an anxious cry. "Kai! Kai, come back!" but Wu hobbled over and placed one hand on her shoulder, slowly forcing her back down against the tree.

"Stay still, young one. Your brother will not stay away. He will be back."

"How do you know?" she shot back at him, the fear in her eyes surpassing the rage in her tone of voice so that it was obvious she was more scared than actually angry.

How could he explain what he knew? How could he explain that the plane crash was because of him, but he had never meant to kill so many? How could he explain that he had tracked them out, these eight, and…

No matter. She did not need to know of this yet. None of them did. "That is none of your concern."

"Yes, it is. He's my _brother._"

Wu sighed. He hadn't wanted to resort to using this, but desperate times called for desperate measures. Taking out his staff, he whispered an incoherent incantation to it and watched as a small burst of golden dust appeared. Collecting it into his palm, Wu blew the dust into a startled Nya's face; sighing, she collapsed and fell backwards against the tree.

"What did you do to her?" Jay yelped, slowly shaking her shoulder back and forth; Nya's head lolled precariously to the side.

"I did what I had to. She will wake up in perhaps one hour. That will give us time to eat, and to rest. We must keep on the move, after all," Wu replied, allowing a small smile to land on his face as he stared out through the undergrowth where Kai had stormed off.

It seemed bad now, but he knew it was for the best…if only the others could know too.

It was only the curse of being the one to carry out the dreaded prophecy.

Wu sighed. "Come now, and let us rest. Jay, Nya will be fine. D-Does anyone know how to fix up Zane since Jay is hurt? Ah, Misako, you think you can have a go? Good, good." He looked them all over, collapsed on the ground, some whispering among themselves. "Come now, all of you. Let your whispers not **shatter **your chances of a good rest."


End file.
